How Wanda Maximoff’s Hair Tells Her Story

Yes, Elizabeth Olsen can basically wear any hair color. From brown to red to a chocolate brown at the beginning of 2021, she nails the coloring! But, as her MCU character Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, her hair’s change throughout the movies significantly tells her story not only for the purpose of fashion.. read on to find out how! 

Age of Ultron 

In Wanda’s first live-action appearance, she has a medium brown hair color. Why does this matter? Well, Age of Ultron introduced her as a poor test subject for Hydra who was convinced to use her powers for their benefit against the Avengers. A dark turn for a beloved comics character, right? At least she didn’t stay on the bad side for long. 

Back to the hair story, Wanda’s brown hair is a dark color that signifies that she was on the shady side of the war. Even the outfit agrees! With mainly black tones matched with a dark crimson red, she does confirm her identity as Scarlet Witch while giving the viewers the idea that she’s not fully on the Avengers’ side yet. 

Captain America: Civil War 

While the Avengers are at war with each other, Wanda is rocking a new look: light brown hair. This goes to show that she’s turning to the good slowly but still hanging onto her past: grappling with joining Earth’s Mightiest Heroes so suddenly plus struggling to control her powers isn’t easy. But, she’s on her way! At least her Hydra associations have gone bye-bye and she’s trying to welcome the good… just eventually. 

Infinity War – Endgame

After the big time gap between the last Wanda movie and now, she’s had much time to grow into the strongest Avenger – the one she deserves to be. Don’t believe us? The hair proves it again! Going from a brown to light brown and now to a bold ginger red, Wanda’s gone through extreme mental changes trying to figure out which side she’s on, who to trust, and most of all, how to handle herself. In short: Wanda Maximoff is a complicated person. 

 However, Infinity War also gives us one of the most major afflictions Wanda has faced in her life: Vision’s death. After forming a close bond over multiple movies, the Mind Stone-powered synthezoid has successfully made up for all she’s lost, letting her finally forgive Iron Man for blowing up her house. (Vision was made by Stark Industries, you know.) But, being forced to willingly give up her love and surrender to the Mad Titan is grief unthinkable – but, Wanda’s still holding true to her real good personality inside herself (as shown by her bright colored hair) through it all! Wanda’s made it this far, only to be turned to dust in her last Infinity War moments, and it looks like her story’s over for now… 

Ta-da: Endgame! Hulk snaps his fingers and Doctor Strange opens portals for everyone who blipped away to return, and among them is the one and only Wanda! Strengthened by her rage (her powers are closely tied to her feelings), she nearly defeats Thanos, proving herself as a valuable asset to the Avengers. It’s not Bad Hair Day anymore… It’s Good Hair Day for Wanda! 

WandaVision

Wanda still had a purpose after Endgame! Elizabeth Olsen was re-hired for her new Marvel sitcom WandaVision (stop reading if you haven’t watched it!) and Wanda gave all of us her humor and strength with the nine-episode show. 

Here, we again see Wanda sporting a very light ginger red hair color. Despite all she’s done to the small town of Westview, all she wants is a stable family environment and her extreme grief to fade away. Let’s make it clear: Wanda’s not a villain! She doesn’t want to be the bad guy! She’s trying her best to maintain her twin boys and her husband Vision, but must choose one: save her family, or save the town! 

Okay, we won’t give away the ending here, but we’ll just say Wanda fixes herself and assures herself that she’s not bad. This is her fashion statement right here: light-colored red hair symbolizes that she’s still on the good side. 

To sum up, Wanda’s hair definitely tells her story. In the face of intense grief, loss, and constant efforts to find her place in the universe (or should I say multiverse), she’s stayed the good person that she is as she’s strongly based on her compassion and love for others. 

Starting from Age of Ultron, she’s mostly the “villain” of the Avengers story, but by Civil War, she’s slowly changing sides. Infinity War and Endgame present to us the fully good version of Wanda. Being a vivid redhead, she’s the Scarlet Witch indeed! (Just not being witchy, if you know what I mean..) And finally, WandaVision shows us the most recent version of Wanda in her endeavor to be the protagonist she wants to be. We can all hopefully see that Wanda’s changing hair color brings us to the conclusion that she’s had a vital shift from bad to good – something that can’t be ignored.  The Scarlet Witch has become much more than the minor character she started off as: she’s now dubbed the most powerful Avenger! With a story that’s a valuable lesson for all of us, I hope that she will appear sooner than 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!